Maybe I Don't Hate You
by mayquita
Summary: Emma Swan hates Killian Jones even before she meets him. But when he starts working with her, maybe her feelings change a bit. Or maybe not. At least not in front of their friends.


_This story is onceuponaprincessworld's fault. She said on Tumblr a while ago that she loved the "enemies to secret dating to lovers" trope and since then I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, so this is my little contribution. I don't even know if it makes any sense, because I wrote it in just a moment, but somehow I had to get it out of my head._

* * *

Emma Swan hates Killian Jones. She hates him even before she met him, when David, her friend and boss, informed her that his best friend from college — _His I'm Mr perfect Killian Jones_ friend — was going to join the business as a new employee. Okay, maybe hate is a too strong word, but she can't stand him. Urg, why did David have to hire him and make her life miserable?

The reason is not that her demons in the form of insecurities begin to haunt her, screaming that he is a threat to her position — _He got the record in capturing bail jumpers last year in London_ — No, she can't stand his perfect face, his very blue eyes, his swaying, his continuous flirting and his accent. That's the worst of all. She can not control the reactions of her body when he is around. And she hates not being in control.

Killian Jones thinks that Emma Swan is insufferable. She hasn't stopped pushing and teasing him since he arrived at the company, tightening the thread between them until it almost reaches its limit. He is sure that he had never had to bite his tongue so much before, roll his eyes or count to ten as with this woman. But Killian likes a challenge — and maybe the fire that emanates from her gaze and the passion she puts, even in hating him have something to do with it — that's why he not only holds up her pushes but also generates them.

* * *

Maybe Emma does not hate Killian anymore. Not when she finds every morning on her desk her favorite bear claw and a hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon. Not when he proves that he is really good at his work and not in the competitive sense but in the collaborative one. But that doesn't mean that she likes him. Nope. His intense gaze, his scruff, his expressive eyebrows and his perfect body are not enough either. Absolutely not.

After a few weeks, Killian no longer thinks that Emma is insufferable, quite the contrary. There is something about her that makes him feel attracted to her like a magnet, although he is still not sure what it is. Maybe her tenacity, her courage or her constant dedication to her job. Or maybe it's that lost look he sometimes catches when she's distracted, or the way her face lights up each morning when her eyes drift to her desk in search of her favorite breakfast. But she keeps pushing and he keeps challenging her, while Robin, their other coworker, rolls his eyes and David looks at the ceiling while both huff in exasperation.

* * *

They continue fighting.

"Swan! Tell me you haven't used my tickets for the football game as a notebook."

"I was in an emergency and I had nothing else at hand."

"The tickets were on my desk. In a drawer. Locked with a key."

She simply shrugs and rushes out mumbling an excuse, pressing her lips together in an almost unsuccessful attempt to prevent a wide smirk from appearing.

"How did you let that skip escape, Jones? It was an easy prey."

"Maybe I was distracted thinking of you, love."

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes, hoping for Killian not to notice the blush that has begun to creep from her neck to her cheeks.

Killian has already been working with them for a couple of months when Emma can no longer deny the evidence. Although she will never admit it out loud, she may like Killian. A tiny bit.

* * *

Killian likes Emma. A lot. He actually feels quite fascinated by that creature full of contradictions. She may be the most badass person in the world when she tries to catch one of the criminals and the next minute she is able to transform herself, offering infinite tenderness and patience to Roland, the little son of Robin.

Thanks to David, he's got some small hints into her past, which, far from pushing him away, makes him feel more and more attracted to her.

"I know Emma can be a pain in the ass sometimes, Killian, but she has had a tough past, don't go so hard with her."

Mary Margaret, David's girlfriend, also defends her best friend. "She has her reasons for behaving that way, and you better than anyone should understand her."

He does, of course he does. He also had a hard past, full of suffering and loss, but, following the motto of his passed brother, _a man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he_ _gets_. There is nothing he wants more than to know Emma better, to know those little —or big— secrets from her past that make her the person she is now, to discover what makes her laugh, what makes her cheeks to flush and how could he get to her heart.

* * *

The moment Emma realizes that she likes Killian maybe too much comes unexpectedly on a day when they team up in a stakeout session. Killian is teasing her, as always. — " _I'm just trying to distract you, love._ " — He smirks at her after one of his usual banter when something seizes her, causing an uncontrollable desire to erase that smile with her own lips.

And she does. She pulls him and captures his lips with hers in a demanding kiss, to which, luckily, he responds with the same enthusiasm. And just like that, they start making out in his car, their lips and hands anywhere, their surveillance completely forgotten. At least on her part.

Killian, the bastard , turns out to have the ability to make her blood run hot and, at the same time, keep an eye on their target. Just as she is about to straddle his lap, he breaks the kiss and points towards the street. "What do you say, darling? Are you up for a little ride?" He suggests, his voice still heavy after their previous activities, his cheeks flushed and his eyes even more blue, watching her with intensity while his lips, those that just a few seconds ago were on hers, draw a smile that does not exactly invite to run after a guy.

But she is a professional, so after a sigh of resignation, they prepare to catch their prey. They do it in record time. Maybe the adrenaline that still runs through their veins acts as an ally to make them achieve their goal. For that reason, when they make the corresponding arrangements and deliver the guy to the police, they celebrate it with another session of making out, right in front of their office.

By the time they arrive at the office a little later, David gives them a mixed look of reproach and resignation, while addressing them in his best bossy tone. "Guys, at some point you're going to have to stop fighting."

"That's not..." Her voice trails off when her gaze drifts towards Killian. He looks wrecked and a little agitated, just as he would look after one of their fights. Emma wonders if she has the same look as she presses her lips together to avoid the laughter bubbling in her chest. An idea crosses her mind at that moment, she has no intention of quitting _fighting_ with him at any time soon.

* * *

Luckily for him, that first kiss —several searing kisses, actually — is not a one-time thing, but a promising start. It's as if something had taken hold of them, as if the attraction between them had multiplied and once their lips came into contact they are unable to keep them apart. At least in privacy. That intimacy also allows Killian to discover that Emma's innate fire and passion while fighting intensifies when they carry out much more pleasurable activities.

The problem? That blooming relationship between them only exists when they are in private.

"It's better that we keep it a secret." Emma assures him, although he is not entirely convinced. "You already know that David doesn't approve relationships between coworkers." She insists in that stubborn way of hers. To prove her point, she reminds him of _the Graham incident_. He was a former co-worker who fell hard for her and went from being a competent person to a complete mess after her rejection. "Besides, it's not that we're together, or anything like that, it's just... you know what I mean."

He does. It's sex. But it is also much more than that. It's spending lazy afternoons cuddled on the couch, it's sharing their past stories under the shelter of his apartment or hers, it's sharing furtive looks and stolen kisses in the office when nobody notices. It's to continue fighting in front of everyone while he imagines the feeling of her body under his between the sheets. But he is a patient man, and he knows that Emma will realize that too sooner or later.

* * *

"I'd like to ask you a huge favor, Emma." Mary Margaret says one day while they are having lunch together. There is an apologetic expression on her face that triggers her alarms. Emma looks at her through her narrow eyes and tilts her head, waiting for her to continue. "Right now David is asking Killian to be his best man at our wedding."

"Uh huh," Emma replies, not surprised by what she has just heard. But there is something else, she can tell because Mary Margaret fidgets in her seat.

"Since you will be my maid of honor, it would be too much to ask that you bury the hatchet at least for a while, pretty please?" The voice of her friend comes almost like a plea, causing in Emma a desire to break into laughter. She quickly schools her features, though. She is not yet ready to give explanations to her friends.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah." She lets out a long sigh. "We may not get along quite well, but we'll make an effort, for you guys."

"That's wonderful, thank you, Emma." The smile that Mary Margaret gives her has the ability to warm her heart. If she only knew...

Later that day, as she lies in her bed cuddled in Killian's arms, she thinks about the wedding and in the torture that will mean having Killian so close during the whole event and not being able to interact with him the way she would like. No kisses, no hugs, no dancing. _Shit_! Suddenly it no longer seems so good idea to keep the secret. "We could simply confess." He mumbles, hot puffs of air caressing her skin. Damn him and his ability to read her mind.

She doesn't feel ready yet, though. Or maybe it's the fear that everything they share now may disappear, as if being protected in their own bubble isolates them from the world. But sooner or later they have to get out of the bubble and better do it of their own free will than to wait for the bubble to explode for other circumstances. _After the wedding_ , she promises herself in silence.

* * *

This wedding is being a bloody torture, Killian thinks as he silently watches all of Emma's movements. She is ravishing tonight, which makes it impossible for him to look away from her. Frustration creeps over him, though, since as the hours pass his need for her increases. At least he will have his reward when everything is over and he can sneak up to her hotel room and make that bloody dress disappear from his sight.

Just at that moment something catches his attention, Mary Margaret is about to throw her bridal bouquet and there is already a group of lasses gathered around her, eagerly waiting to catch the bouquet. Emma is distracted, however, chatting animatedly with Robin and Roland, without paying attention to what happens a few steps away from her.

Suddenly, it's as if he saw the scene in slow motion. Mary Margaret looks around until her gaze locates Emma. Her lips draw a wide smile then and, without even bothering to turn around, she throws the bouquet in a specific direction. The flowers reach their goal, to Mary Margaret's delight, who squeal excited, and to Emma's surprise, who looks at the bouquet as if it had appeared out of nowhere.

After her initial shock, Emma seems to react, grabbing the bouquet tightly while her gaze travels across the room to meet his. Only then does she smile, with that special smile dedicated only to him. Killian cannot resist it anymore. In only two strides he appears in front of her, and without thinking twice, he captures her lips with his in a searing kiss. Emma reacts with the same fervor while the two get lost in the feeling of being in each other's arms as if nothing else existed around them.

It's Killian who breaks the kiss to catch his breath. To his relief, Emma doesn't seem worried about having revealed the secret in this way, by sharing the kiss in front of all their friends.

"Maybe I don't hate you after all." She simply says as she arches one of her perfect eyebrows.

"And maybe I love you."

"Just maybe?"

For all answer, he kisses her again, hoping that the kiss will be promising enough of what is to come when they are in the shelter of their room and he finds infinite ways of saying _I love you_ , both with his voice and with his actions.

* * *

A year later they keep fighting and teasing each other.

"You look horrible today, Jones. Do you think you're ready to catch the bad guy?"

"Someone kept me very busy last night, _Jones_." He makes an exaggerated emphasis on the name while waving his eyebrows. "And I'm always ready." He winks at her earning a roll of eyes on her part.

David huffs at his side as he throws his arms in the air in exasperation. "I don't know if I prefer when you two fight or when you behave... that way."

Emma and Killian look at each other and, as if they read their minds, they both respond in unison. "Both."


End file.
